The deputy chief of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party is optimistic on Taiwan and Canada signing a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement (FIPA), she said yesterday, adding that it could lead to a rare visit to Taiwan by a Canadian minister to seal the deal.
Canadian Deputy Leader of the Opposition Melissa Lantsman, in a media interview in Taipei, said that FIPA talks and the signing of a deal would be “a new peg to the Canada-Taiwan relationship.”
Once the deal is signed, it should increase business between the countries and people-to-people exchanges, she said.
Photo: CNA
An additional benefit of the ongoing FIPA negotiations, she said, would be the opportunity it would provide for a rare ministerial-level visit.
Lantsman has been encouraging more Canadian ministers to visit Taiwan, in particular because the last Canadian minister to do so was more than 20 years ago, when then-Canadian minister of industry John Manley traveled to Taiwan in September 1998.
“So I think we’re due for another one,” she said.
Members of the Canadian parliament have suggested that the FIPA could be signed in Taiwan, maybe by a minister, Lantsman said.
In early February, Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), jointly announced with Canadian Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng (伍鳳儀) that the two sides had agreed to begin formal negotiations on a FIPA, with the aim of spurring bilateral trade and investment.
The first round of talks was held on April 25 in Taipei.
Commenting on the passage of a Canadian warship through the Taiwan Strait on June 3, Lantsman said that Canadians are proud of their men and women in the military who participate in joint exercises with the US.
She said she has been vocal in opposing Chinese People’s Liberation Army missions near Taiwan’s waters and airspace as those actions could be a “dress rehearsal for what’s to come.”
“As Canadians we are going to stand with our friends. We’re going to stand on the right side of history, and we’re going to discourage any kind of military action on our democratic friend and ally,” she said. “I think the joint operation is one symbol of that.”
US warships have been making routine, almost monthly passages through the Taiwan Strait for more than two years to demonstrate Washington’s freedom of navigation commitment amid ongoing tensions with Beijing.
Occasionally, these transits are accompanied by warships from US allies, including Canada.
An eight-member parliamentarian delegation led by Lantsman yesterday concluded its six-day visit to Taiwan.
One of the delegation members was Conservative Party member Michael Cooper, who gained renown in Taiwan after he spelled out Taiwan during a Canadian parliament session in January 2020 to support Taipei’s bid to join the World Health Assembly.
The other delegation members were Kyle Seeback, Michael Barrett, Garnett Genuis, Marilene Gill, Marie-Helene Gaudreau and Chandra Arya.
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